CHIMP THEORY

Chimp Theory: How to grab your prospect’s attention

There are a thousand books that explain how the brain works. Our favorite is The Chimp Paradox by Dr. Steven Peters. In it he says our minds are made up of three brains: the emotional or “chimp” brain, the rational or “human” one, and the logical “computer” brain, which takes advice from the chimp and human brains to form decisions.

All three are important, but getting to your prospect’s Chimp brain is essential to success. Here’s why.

The chimp brain is concerned with survival, and it’s five times more powerful than the human brain. Reactionary and protective, the chimp brain constantly scans the information it receives to see how it will affect your survival. If it doesn’t sense anything out of the ordinary, it simply passes the information to the human brain to be consumed at a more rational, leisurely pace.

But if a piece of information stimulates the chimp, it will stop everything and act.

Dr. Peters’ mind model is simple, fun, and very easy to understand and remember. It applies to all areas of life including sales, and that’s why we’ve integrated it into our methodologies.

We feel that most messages don’t tickle a prospect’s chimp brain—they simply get passed on to their human brain to be processed or forgotten. This is why so many deals don’t go anywhere—the messaging isn’t tickling the chimp.

But if a piece of information stimulates the chimp, it will stop everything and act.

Dr. Peters’ mind model is simple, fun, and very easy to understand and remember. It applies to all areas of life including sales, and that’s why we’ve integrated it into our methodologies. We feel that most messages don’t tickle a prospect’s chimp brain—they simply get passed on to their human brain to be processed or forgotten. This is why so many deals don’t go anywhere—the messaging isn’t tickling the chimp.

Getting the chimp to act

At Slingshot Edge, everything we do is geared toward tickling your prospect’s chimp brain and getting it to act. The messaging and delivery techniques we create tap into the survival instinct of your buyer’s chimp and get it to act because they are:

Emotional and credible: Your buyer is the main character in these stories. This enables your reps to make stronger connections with prospects, and elevate discussions within their accounts.

Black and white: We use insights to show contrast to your buyer. Your reps will shine a light on how unstable your buyer’s world currently is, and how much better things can be if they take a new approach.